For the next seven days, and at a time when Congress is considering $16 billion in cuts to the federal program, Booker will put himself in the same position as 850,000 other New Jerseyans who receive food stamps each month.

The Newark mayor’s been a darling of the national press, until this week. Imara Jones explains why Booker’s odd defense of private equity firms hit such a nerve: because they represent the very thing people like Booker are supposed to counter.